Chapter 2: The First One

Underground, thirty years later…

One would have to have seen the Underground to believe that it was now a habitable place for the monsters there, each one building homes for themselves and managing to find work to make a living at. It took a lot of hard work, but it paid off.

And so far, no humans had fallen into the mountain, something that was a relief for the monsters, but also a bit saddening as they were hoping to show some humans that things were much different, that they wanted to live peacefully.

Papyrus was just outside the Ruins one day as he was thinking about how it would be if a human did fall. After Asgore had declared that if any child fell, they would be taken in and adopted, the tall skeleton began hoping that a child would fall, because he could teach them puzzles like a big brother would for a younger sibling.

In the middle of his daydream, he heard a loud 'THUMP' before a loud 'CLANK' was heard too. He quickly moved and stopped in shock, blinking to be sure he wasn't dreaming as he got closer, filled with hope that a child had just fallen and he could help her. He got closer and she opened her eyes, sitting up before clutching an oxygen tank. Finding this odd, Papyrus decided to see what was going on and stopped short when he saw a clear tube go from the oxygen tank to the girl's nose. He knew a little about it from one of Alphys' lectures long ago, but when he saw her face, she couldn't have been more than eight years old.

The girl stood up and lifted her head, spotting him and she gasped, running away from him. The tall skeleton instantly went after her, calling Alphys on his cell phone. "Alphys, a human fell!" He exclaimed in to the phone.

"What?" She asked, startled and checked her surveillance. Sure enough, she saw Papyrus chasing the young girl. "She's on oxygen, I think," she heard the skeleton say.

That spurred the scientist into action. "Papyrus, catch that human. If she's on oxygen, then she won't survive running," she said urgently. "Bring her to my lab when you get her."

Agreeing, Papyrus quickly called his two brothers and told them the situation and they wasted no time joining in the chase, running after the frightened child, who didn't stop running when she saw the three of them on her tail.

Suddenly, she collapsed, too tired to keep going and trying to pull more oxygen into her lungs. Hearing the skeletons get closer, she grew frightened and clutched the almost-empty oxygen tank to herself while a tall skeleton dressed mostly in black came closer and picked her up quickly. She went limp in his arms. "Sans, she needs Alphys' help now," Gaster said.

"Gather close," the shorter skeleton said.

It took only a moment to teleport them to Alphys' lab and she quickly motioned them over to a hospital bed nearby. After the young girl was laid on the bed, Alphys disconnected the oxygen tube from the drained tank and connected it to the oxygen system she had running for her. "There," she said, quickly checking the machines and letting out a sigh of relief. "She's going to be alright."

The young girl trembled as she lay there, afraid of them. Papyrus, seeing this, came over and gently took one of her small hands into his, rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb, which seemed to help her a bit before she gasped as Sans' left eye lit up and he concentrated on something. "Her stats are low," he said. "But…there's a reason she's on the oxygen."

"Why, Sans?" Papyrus asked.

The short skeleton came closer, giving the girl a sympathetic look. "She's got lung cancer," he said.

Toriel and Asgore, who had just arrived, stopped short when they heard that. "Lung cancer?" Toriel asked in shock.

Sans nodded and the monsters all looked at the girl sympathetically, feeling sad for her. "Little one, what is your name?" Gaster asked her.

She was quiet for a bit, but then took a deep breath. "I'm Rose," she said. "I'm eight years old."

Asgore came forward, kneeling down beside the bed. "What were you doing up on Mount Ebbot, little one?" He asked.

Rose sat up a little and Alphys placed a couple extra pillows behind her to help her sit upright. "Thank you," Rose said to the dinosaur scientist before she looked at them all. "My parents…they said it was best for my lungs…if I went up to Mount Ebbot."

Undyne suddenly entered the lab. "Hey, I found something," she said, holding up what looked like a backpack. She then spotted Rose and stopped short. "A kid?"

"Yes, she just fell down here about an hour ago," Gaster said.

Alphys took the bag from Undyne and went over to Rose. "Is this your backpack, Rose?" She asked

The little girl nodded and the dinosaur opened the bag to check the contents. Her face fell and she looked up at the others. "Alphys, what's in there?" Sans asked.

"Two changes of clothes, another oxygen tank, and some food, probably enough to last a few days."

At Alphys' answer, the monsters looked worried. "Rose, are you sure you weren't going on a camping trip, sweetie?" Toriel asked gently.

Rose shook her head. "No, just for a day of hiking," she answered.

Alphys suddenly saw a piece of paper and pulled it out, opening it and her heart sank more. "Guys…her parents…they left her to die," she said softly.

Gaster came over and gently took the paper from the scientist, his own eyes widening in shock. "She's right," he said, handing the paper to Asgore, who was equally shocked.

Hearing that, Rose turned her head to the side, tears falling down her face. "I…I thought that was…the reason," she managed to say through her tears before she broke down, crying harder.

Her motherly instincts guiding her, Toriel went up to Rose and picked her up, holding her in a comforting embrace as the young girl clung to her, still crying a bit. The Queen of the Underground looked up at her husband, who nodded and came closer, gently rubbing one of Rose's arms with a large hand and waiting until she calmed down a bit more. "Rose, we won't let you die, little one," he said soothingly. "Toriel and I will take care of you."

The eight-year-old lifted up her head at that, looking stunned. "You mean…you'll adopt me? By my mom and dad?" She asked.

"Yes, little one," said Toriel.

Rose sat up a bit more. "Do you really mean it?" She asked, showing them that she wasn't completely convinced.

Sans came up to them and reached forward, gently tickling Rose's sides, which made her giggle a bit. "They mean it, kiddo," he said gently. "The King and Queen don't lie."

Believing him, she hugged Toriel again. "Thank you," she said softly.

The two goat monsters held her comfortingly, vowing to be good parents for her and to help her through her cancer as best they could.


And here's the first child to fall to the Underground. Someone asked me if this story would go through the seven children counting Frisk and the answer is yes, it will. Frisk doesn't show up for quite a while though, but she'll be in this one too. ;)

Please leave a review, but no flames!

GoldGuardian2418